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The demands of owning a practice while providing excellent care can be overwhelming. Many practice owners struggle with scaling their business while staying true to their mission, and wonder how they can get unshackled from the ”Success Trap.” This podcast has the answers. On Thriving Practice we believe you can have a profitable practice, enjoy sustainable growth, AND build your business around the life you want to lead, not the other way around. Join host Tracy Cherpeski, Executive Coach & Consultant, Mindset Mastery and Time Leadership expert, each week as she interviews experts in all aspects of the medical and dental fields, and shares wisdom in solo episodes.
Episodes

6 days ago
6 days ago
EP 100: From Success to Future with Tracy Cherpeski
Celebrate episode 100 with us! Tracy takes a rearview mirror look at the last 2 ½ years of podcasting, highlighting several episodes that have stood out to her for a variety of reasons. She also shares why a bloopers reel was not on the table for this episode.
Episode that surprised her: EP 78: Psychedelics for Everyone with Matt Zemon
Episode where she learned something new: EP 85: A New Frontier: Regenerative Medicine with Jeremy Pont
Episode that inspired her: EP 92: Revolutionary Relational Dental Hygiene with Erika Flateau
Episode that blew her mind: EP 93: Increased Efficiency with Tech Solutions with Jonathan Chen
Join us in two weeks as Season 6 launches, starting with EP 101: Combatting Burnout: a Roundtable Discussion with Justin Maxwell and Dr. Yishai Barkhordari.
Other topics to look forward to in Season 6:
- Provider well-being
- Leadership and practice management
- Medical Ethics and legal considerations
- Entrepreneurship (in the context of private practice)
- Treating patient care like a hospitality business, and much more
Bio:
Tracy Cherpeski is the President and CEO of Tracy Cherpeski International, a coaching and consulting firm that helps healthcare practice owners and their teams grow their practices while protecting their most precious assets: their time and energy.
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Wednesday May 17, 2023
EP 99: Transforming Healthcare: Expert Telehealth Support with Lauren Howard
Wednesday May 17, 2023
Wednesday May 17, 2023
Welcome to episode 99 of Thriving Practice, THE business podcast for medical, dental and healthcare practices where we help provider-owners grow their business and take back their time.
You’re in for a treat today. L2 shares her insights and wisdom, starting with the fact that there are no practices without operational needs. In other words, every single practice will have operational needs and would benefit from expert support.
Highlights:
When you bring in experts in their area to support your practice, you empower yourself to become a better decision maker and practice leader.
The decision to grow and scale or stay smaller - how neither is a wrong choice. Being extremely intentional in your choice is key.
L2 is sharp and engaging, and I know you’ll want to take notes. Also, follow her on LinkedIn for her refreshing, deep and powerful stories and insights.
Lauren’s parting wisdom is:
- The way it’s always been done, doesn’t make it the right way to do it.
- Trust your gut for the next moves.
- It’s perfectly acceptable to have a non-traditional medical career.
Bio:
Lauren "L2" Howard, President and CEO of ElleTwo and VirtuELLE Health, specializes in clinical operations, healthcare technology, and helping women redefine professionalism.
At VirtuELLE Health, L2 marries her experiences to provide infrastructure design, market fit insights, implementation strategies, growth models and more to healthcare and allied healthcare companies. She works with groups around the globe to help direct strategy and advise on growing digital health technologies and programs in a post-pandemic world.
Through the re-launched ElleTwo, L2 will lift up the voices of women, provide resources for growth, and community for support to anyone looking to redefine professionalism for themselves.
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Wednesday May 10, 2023
EP 98: The Myth of Work-Life Balance: Why Striving for Equilibrium is Holding You Back
Wednesday May 10, 2023
Wednesday May 10, 2023
Welcome to Episode 98. Tracy is sharing about the myth of work-life balance, and how you can start to look at it differently, starting with your mindset around what “balance” means.
Learn the difference between work-life balance and work-life integration, and hear how Tracy teaches her clients to embrace the metaphor of harmony rather than balance or equilibrium.
Think about your favorite soothing music. It’s got beautiful harmonies and it works. If one of the instruments or singers is out of tune, it creates a kind of friction that’s hard to listen to, especially if it lasts through the whole song or an entire symphony. The same is true in life.
Tracy walks you through the five steps of the cycle of work-life balance, and references a study by Harvard Business Review.
The five steps of the cycle of work-life balance (harmony):
- Pause and denormalize
- Pay attention to your emotions
- Reprioritize
- Consider your alternatives
- Implement changes
Tracy shares client stories and the methods she teaches clients to create their own framework and system to create work-life harmony on their terms.
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Resources & References:
The myth of ‘work-life balance’ is a generational illusion (Fortune)
Work-Life Balance Is a Cycle, Not an Achievement (Harvard Business Review)
Importance of a Work-Life Balance
Work-life balance – Managing the interface between family and working life
Work-Life Balance (Mental Health America)
Work-Life Integration vs. Work-Life Balance (US Chamber of Commerce)
Bio:
Tracy Cherpeski is the President and CEO of Tracy Cherpeski International, a coaching and consulting firm that helps healthcare practice owners and their teams grow their practices while protecting their most precious assets: their time and energy.
Schedule Your Free Practice Assessment Strategy
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Wednesday May 03, 2023
Wednesday May 03, 2023
Welcome to Episode 97. Today Tracy is talking about how to decrease turnover and increase staff retention.
With turnover at over 26% overall in healthcare, it is no small wonder it’s top of mind for practice owners. Tracy breaks down how to take three simple (but not necessarily easy) steps to improve morale and staff retention.
Some of the primary reasons for turnover are:
- Staff is overworked
- Work environment is stressful
- Lack of decision-making power
- Lack of recognition and direction from the top
This episode focuses on the last reason: lack of recognition and direction from the top. All are important, though in her experience in over 12 years of coaching and consulting clients, focusing on one area can often be supportive of addressing other sticky areas in need of attention.
Here are the three ways to improve employee retention:
- Get clear about what you want for your practice.
- Communicate your vision with your team.
- Follow up like the wellbeing of your practice and team depend on it, because they do.
Tracy shares a personal story and a client story, so make sure to listen closely and take notes.
Schedule Your Free Practice Assessment Strategy
Bio:
Tracy Cherpeski is the President and CEO of Tracy Cherpeski International, a coaching and consulting firm that helps healthcare practice owners and their teams grow their practices while protecting their most precious assets: their time and energy.
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Schedule Strategy Session with Tracy

Wednesday Apr 26, 2023
EP 96: Hidden Business Breakthrough Secrets with Dr. Matthew Norton
Wednesday Apr 26, 2023
Wednesday Apr 26, 2023
Have you ever thought of emotional agility and surrender as the hidden business breakthrough secrets?
Today’s guest is Dr. Matthew Norton, a leadership and team culture coach serving business owners who want to increase profitability, and are open to doing that through improving the people aspect of their business.
Matthew shares stories of loss of life and purpose, and how to reconnect, or connect for the first time, with our own unique genius. He describes his “Core Four” assessments, and likens them to the different languages we all speak:
- Action Approach
- Cognitive Styles
- Inspiration Sources
- Emotional Agility
He says the last assessment, your emotional agility, is the most critical to your ability to lead.
We talked at length about one of my favorite topics: mindset, and Matthew shared some resources that we’ve linked in the show notes, so make sure to scroll down to access them.
His parting wisdom is:
- Clarity is most the noble driving purpose
- Begin with yourself, the leader (you ARE your first hire, afterall)
My biggest takeaway from our conversation is that when we understand ourselves and others, we are in a much better position to lead, and leadership is much more about listening and guiding than telling and directing.
Make sure to check out the Core Four assessments at PeoplePlusPurpose.com to learn about yourself and your team. You’ll be so glad you did.
Bio:
Matthew Norton has been a business owner and leader since 1983. He’s an expert in human behavior and cognitive science, determining how and why people do what they do. His lifelong passion is providing insights and strategies that guide people to fulfill their purpose and achieve the success they’re seeking.
He is the creator of numerous innovative assessments that provide unique insights into people’s key strengths and signature styles leading to improved interpersonal understanding, communication and collaboration. The strategic applications of these assessments typically result in improved relationship dynamics as well as business breakthroughs achieved through optimizing leaders and their teams.
He is the founder/owner of PeoplePlusPurpose.com. He loves to speak, be interviewed, and interview others to share knowledge and serve people.
Find Matthew:
Email Matthew: DrNorton@PeoplePlusPurpose.com
Resources Mentioned:
The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry
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Wednesday Apr 05, 2023
EP 95: Mastering the Art of Financial Abundance with Eric Miller
Wednesday Apr 05, 2023
Wednesday Apr 05, 2023
Eric Miller joins us in episode 95. He is co-owner of Econologics Financial Advisors, and is the Chief Financial Advisor. Eric takes pride in helping proactive owners become the financial heroes of their own stories and has helped practice owners with money, investing, practice expansion, practice transitions, taxes, asset protection and much more, and he helps them shape their financial attitude toward abundance.
We talked at length about the mindset required for a practice owner to achieve the success they desire - which we are loosely defining as financial and time freedom in our conversation. I love speaking with business owners and service providers like Eric, because it’s so clear that he cares deeply about his clients, not only for their financial wellbeing, but for their whole life and business happiness.
We talked about different ways to shift the practice and really the whole business entity, toward a multiple streams of income powerhouse. Eric’s approach is to treat the practice as an investment, and as the main source for strong income, and encourages his clients to use their cash flow to invest in building other streams of income.
I know you hear me say this a lot, so I found it refreshing when Eric emphasized that as the practice owner, you’re wearing multiple hats of owner, executive and provider. It’s important for you to get clear on your vision, mission and culture, in order to achieve the financial and professional goals you’ve set for yourself. You need to ask yourself who you need to be in order to be successful on your terms.
Our conversation focused a lot on leadership, which needs to be a central focus for the practice owner.
Eric’s parting wisdom is:
- Make sure you treat the practice like an investment, not a job.
- Don't underestimate how much you need in assets and resources.
- Make sure to acknowledge your worth to the practice, and pay yourself correctly.
If you’re a practice owner and you’d like to learn how to build on your investment, I highly recommend you get in touch with Eric. His contact information is in the show notes.
So, grab a beverage or a snack and settle-in to listen to Eric and his sage wisdom.
Remember to save your seat for our upcoming roundtable discussion on burnout.
Join us at our upcoming Roundtable Discussion on Burnout.
Eric’s Bio:
Eric Miller is the Co-Owner of Econologics Financial Advisors and the Chief Financial Advisor. He takes pride in helping practice owners become the financial heroes of their own stories and has taken this passion to over 600 families in the past decade. During this time, he’s had over 15,000 conversations with practice owners regarding money, investing, practice expansion, practice transitions, taxes, asset protection, estate planning, and helping them shape their financial attitude toward abundance. Econologics Financial Advisors is an Inc. 5000 honoree for 2019 as one of the fastest growing companies in the US.
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Wednesday Mar 29, 2023
EP 94: REPLAY. The Silent Epidemic: BURNOUT with Tracy Cherpeski
Wednesday Mar 29, 2023
Wednesday Mar 29, 2023
Tracy is talking about Burnout today.
World Health Organization definition of Burnout:
“Burn-out is a syndrome conceptualized as resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed. It is characterized by three dimensions:
- feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion;
- increased mental distance from one’s job, or feelings of negativism or cynicism related to one's job; and
- reduced professional efficacy.
Burn-out refers specifically to phenomena in the occupational context and should not be applied to describe experiences in other areas of life.”
12 Stages of Burnout:
- Compulsion to prove oneself - demonstrating worth obsessively.
- Working hard - with an inability to switch off.
- Neglecting basic needs - lack of sleep, lack of healthy eating, lack of social interaction.
- Displacement of conflicts - problems are dismissed.
- Revision of values - values are skewed, friends and family dismissed, hobbies irrelevant.
- Denial of emerging problems - intolerance, perceiving collaborators as stupid, cynicism, aggression, problems are viewed as caused by work.
- Withdrawal - social life small or nonexistent, hard social contacts.
- Odd behavioral changes - changes in behavior obvious to friends and family.
- Depersonalization - seeing neither self nor others as valuable.
- Inner emptiness - feeling empty inside.
- Depression - feeling lost, exhausted and the future feels bleak and dark.
- Burnout syndrome - includes mental and physical collapse; medical attention required.
References for Burnout:
Entrepreneur article on Burnout
World Health Organization International Classification of Diseases
Bio:
Tracy Cherpeski, MBA, MA, CPSC, is an Executive Coach, Consultant, and Leadership Development specialist with over 20 years of experience. She is the go-to expert for private practice owners and their teams, teaching them how to optimize their time, master their mindset, and scale their practices. Tracy helps her clients take back their time and energy to start living a fulfilled life as a high-impact CEO. Tracy has shared her presentations with industry groups, non-profit organizations, government agencies, corporations, and associations.
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Register for Conquering Burnout: A Recipe for Success
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Wednesday Mar 01, 2023
EP 93: Increased Efficiency With Tech Solutions with Jonathan Chen
Wednesday Mar 01, 2023
Wednesday Mar 01, 2023
Welcome to Episode 93. Jonathan Chen joins us this week. He is a repeat founder and tech leader with an established record of successful growths and exits. What I loved most about speaking with Johnathan was how he’s able to provide creative tech solutions to expensive and persistent problems for healthcare providers.
Jonathan shared that it was his own frustration with medical practice inefficiencies on a personal health journey that drove him to start Nitra to help healthcare providers. Ultimately, he wants to help providers focus on what they do best, which is to serve their patients.
Nitra helps doctors spend smarter, make better decisions on how to allocate time and financial resources, and build a more efficient and better future. Nitra does this with back office solutions.
Jonathan’s parting wisdom is:
- Hire well.
- Invest in your people. Give them the tools they need, listen to their solutions and help them solve their problems.
There’s a lot to process for this non-tech person, and I found myself filled with awe about how Johnathan and his team are able to come up with so many creative solutions. Give this episode a listen to hear about what they’ve got planned.
Bio:
Jonathan is a repeat founder and tech leader with an established record of successful growth and exits. Prior to Nitra, Jonathan co-founded FiscalNote and served most recently as its Chief Technology Officer. Previously, Jonathan was the co-founder of Pathover, a B2B API-based intelligent routing and logistics solution. Earlier in his career, Jonathan founded and exited several other fast-growth software companies, including a dating app that within one week of launching had 15,000 users and within two weeks had sold to a much larger competitor.
Jonathan’s unique strength is combining bold, strategic vision, and uncompromising execution. A graduate of the University of Maryland, Jonathan has received multiple accolades and recognitions, including Valedictorian of his graduating class (BS, Computer Science). Jonathan is currently a World Economic Forum Technology Pioneer. He has also been profiled by Inc. Magazine 30 Under 30, DC Inno’s 25 Washington D.C. Startup Founders Under 25, and Bisnow’s Washington D.C. 40 under 40.
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Thursday Feb 16, 2023
EP 92: Revolutionary Relational Dental Hygiene with Erika Flateau
Thursday Feb 16, 2023
Thursday Feb 16, 2023
Welcome to a new episode of Thriving Practice, THE business podcast for medical, healthcare and dental practices where we help provider-owners grow their business and take back their time.
In today’s episode, I’m speaking with the passionate and whip-smart Erika Flateau of Renew Consulting Services. Erika has been a full-time clinical hygienist for 21 years. She has developed an approach to hygiene care that is relational-based and revolutionary. She is regarded by dentists as having an unparalleled ability to connect with and engage patients as they discover their pathway to optimal health.
She shares her method and approach to clinical care, and shows us how coaching-up and empowering the hygiene department in a dental practice can have a positive impact in so many areas, including the bottom line, burnout, decreased turnover, patient ease and compliance, and the overall stress levels in the dental practice.
As Erika says, the hygienist team is the touchstone in the practice, and can help improve the health of patients, decrease liability risk and increase efficiency and profitability of the practice, and improve overall outcomes for the patients.
There are so many golden nuggets in this episode, and Erika’s parting wisdom is:
- For the doctors: you can always improve. There is always room to grow and make incremental improvements to how you and your team approach providing care. You would be wise to take the time and make the financial investment in your hygienists and your practice; it will pay off.
So, grab a beverage or a snack and settle-in to listen to Erika and her powerful insights and wisdom.
Bio:
Erika Flateau, RDH has been a full-time clinical dental hygienist for 20 years. In this time, she has developed an approach to hygiene care that is relational-based and revolutionary. She is regarded by dentists as having an unparalleled ability to connect with and engage patients as they discover their pathway to optimal health. She is effective at confidently educating other hygienists by “coaching them up” to a greatest potential!
Erika lives in Tacoma, WA with her wonderful husband Travis, and two amazing daughters Alexis (19) and Olivia (16).
Find Erika:
Email: ErikaFlateau@gmail.com
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Wednesday Feb 08, 2023
EP 91 Turnover: Maybe it’s a YOU Problem with Tracy Cherpeski
Wednesday Feb 08, 2023
Wednesday Feb 08, 2023
Welcome to Episode 91. Tracy is sharing some real talk about turnover.
The fact is, turnover is expensive in terms of money, time and energy. With all the talk about recession and labor shortages, Tracy suggests that you might need a new hiring strategy if you’re struggling with turnover and hiring.
Listen as she discusses a simple, yet effective approach to updating your hiring strategy. It’s not about hiring recruiters, attending job fairs or asking all of your friends and family to contact everyone they know to help you find the right candidate. It’s about making yourself stand out as a practice.
Make sure to take notes, and get clear about the following:
- Your strengths and what sets you apart from other practices
- Your mission and vision, and
- How you will communicate those with your team and prospective employees
Lean in to your strengths and values, and a whole lot can change for you and your practice.
Schedule your Practice Assessment strategy session.
Bio:
Tracy L. Cherpeski - MBA, MA, CPSC, is an executive coach and leadership development expert. With a background in operations and a passion for bringing out peoples’ potential for success, she serves her clients with the highest level of professionalism, with a keen eye toward improving operational structures and productivity, and increasing profitability.
Her coaching, consulting and training programs offer integrated leadership, executive development, and mindset mastery. Tracy has shared her coaching and consulting programs and workshops with small business owners, industry groups, networking organizations, government organizations and corporations. Originally from the Pacific Northwest, Tracy now resides in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
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